My child has been fussy since getting vaccinated. What should I do?

Range of Reactions.

 

After vaccination, children may be fussy due to pain or fever. You may want to give your child a medication such as acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (e.g., Advil®, Motrin®) to reduce pain and fever. Do not give aspirin. If your child is fussy for more than 24 hours, call your clinic or health care provider.

My child's leg or arm is swollen, hot, and red. What should I do?

• Apply a clean, cool, wet washcloth over the sore area for comfort.

• For pain, give a medication such as acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (e.g., Advil®, Motrin®). Do not give aspirin.

• If the redness or tenderness increases after 24 hours, call your clinic or health care provider.

My child seems really sick. Should I call my health care provider?

If you are worried at all about how your child looks or feels, call your clinic or health care provider!

Studies on the causes of autism

bush, thimerosal and autism

One of the best ways to determine whether a particular disease or syndrome is genetic is to examine the incidence in identical and fraternal twins. Using a strict definition of autism, when one twin has autism, approximately 60 percent of identical and 0 percent of fraternal twins have autism. Using a broader definition of autism (that is, autistic spectrum disorder), approximately 92 percent of identical and 10 percent of fraternal twins have autism. Therefore, autism clearly has a genetic basis.

Clues to the causes of autism can be found in studies examining when the symptoms of autism are first evident. Perhaps the best data examining when symptoms of autism are first evident are the .home-movie studies.. These studies took advantage of the fact that many parents take movies of their children during their first birthday (before they have received the MMR vaccine). Home movies of children who were eventually diagnosed with autism and those who were not diagnosed with autism were coded and shown to developmental specialists.

Investigators were, with a very high degree of accuracy, able to separate autistic from nonautistic children at one year of age. These studies found that subtle symptoms of autism were present earlier than some parents had suspected, and that receipt of the MMR vaccine did not precede the first symptoms of autism.

Other investigators extended the home-movie studies of oneyear-old children to include videotapes of children taken at two to three months of age. Using a sophisticated movemen analysis, videos from children eventually diagnosed with autism or not diagnosed with autism were coded and evaluated for their capacity to predict autism. Children who were eventually diagnosed with autism were predicted from movies taken in early infancy. This study supported the hypothesis that very subtle symptoms of autism are present in early infancy and argues strongly against vaccines as a cause of autism.

Toxic or viral insults to the fetus that cause autism, as well as certain central nervous system disorders associated with autism, support the notion that autism is likely to occur in the womb.

For example, children exposed to thalidomide during the first or early second trimester were found to have an increased incidence of autism. However, autism occurred in children with ear but not arm or leg abnormalities. Because arms and legs develop after 24 [days*] gestation, the risk period for autism following receipt of thalidomide must be before 24 [days*] gestation. In support of this finding, Rodier and colleagues found evidence for structural abnormalities of the nervous system in children with autism. These abnormalities could have occurred only during development of the nervous system in the womb.

Similarly, children with congenital rubella syndrome are at increased risk for development of autism. Risk is associated with exposure to rubella before birth but not after birth.